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Andreas Hale
Reigning WBA junior lightweight champion Lamont Roach Jr. will move up to 140 pounds to face Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz for the interim WBC junior welterweight title on Dec. 6 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Premier Boxing Champions told ESPN.
The fight will headline a PBC pay-per-view on Prime Video.
Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs) shifted directions after a proposed August rematch with Gervonta “Tank” Davis fell apart and his rival moved on to face Jake Paul in a November exhibition. Roach battled Davis to a controversial majority draw in March.
Rather than wait for the outcome of the Paul-Davis fight, Roach will look to become an interim titleholder at 140 pounds, making it his third consecutive fight competing in a different weight class.
Cruz (28-3-1, 18 KOs) lost a narrow decision to Davis in December 2021. He has gone 6-1 since that fight, winning the vacant WBC junior welterweight title in his last outing when he outpointed Omar Salcido in July.
Fighting out of Mexico City, Cruz and his team see this fight as an opportunity to become the country’s next big star, saying it’s the “most important fight of his career.”
“This is the biggest moment Isaac Cruz has had in his career,” Sean Gibbons, Cruz’s manager, told ESPN. “This is even bigger than the first ‘Tank’ fight because Mexico is looking for a new face of boxing after Canelo lost to Crawford. They are looking for a world champion and a new star to fight on Mexican Independence Day and Cinco De Mayo weekends.
“We are hoping that this fight will launch Cruz into that conversation.”